Concealed Weapons Now Legal In All 50 States

The Supreme Courts landmark decision on Gay Marriage handed down in a dramatic 5-4 ruling relied heavily on the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment of The United States Constitution. The majority opinion held in part from my reading; A license issued for the exercise of a Constitutional right in one state, must be respected in all the other states, under the equal protection doctrine. I do find that to be a compelling argument and apparently so does the United States Supreme Court.

The question now is whether or not that respect must also be extended to the licenses issued by the many states for citizens to carry concealed weapons and most commonly handguns or pistols. In my home state of Michigan the license is commonly referred to as a CPL or concealed pistol permit. The license is honored in most states but there are notable exceptions like New York, Massachusetts and nearby Illinois with arguably the most restrictive gun laws and no reciprocal agreement with 39 states on CPL’s.

It seems to me that those American citizens with a CPL have a more compelling argument for reciprocity than those with a marriage license; as the court ruled in Heller v. DC that gun ownership is an individual right and that right is also an enumerated right as written in the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. Marriage of course is not included in the US Constitution nor enumerated in the many amendments.

The justices seemed to make perfectly clear in their decision to uphold gay marriage licenses, that it was a matter of equal protection under the law and therefore such licenses must be recognized by all 50 states with respect to the 14th Amendment. It seems clear that this would also reinforce the Supreme Court decision in McDonald v. Chicago issued two years after Heller, that found in part; the second amendment right recognized in Heller is applicable to the states through the due process clause of the 14th amendment. In so holding, the Court reiterated in part; “the Second Amendment protects the right to keep and bear arms for the purpose of self-defense”

In summarizing the courts latest decision: a license issued for the exercise of a Constitutional right in one state, must be respected in all the other states under the equal protection doctrine, period.

Though liberal thought and logic rarely co-mingle; it is hard to fathom how one cannot see the irony of the ruling and how the rights outlined in defense of gay marriage could not extend to the legally licensed concealed weapons owners across all 50 states in America.

Unintended consequences of judicial activism can be very difficult to explain away, very difficult indeed.